Alarmel Valli was born on 14th September 1956 in Chennai, India. She is a famous Indian Folk dancer.

Career

Alarmel finished her schooling by gaining an education at The Sacred Heart Matriculation School, in Chennai and completed her degree at the Stella Maris College, Chennai. Alarmel Valli grew an interest in dancing right from her girlhood. She received her initial lessons in dance by the famous guru Shri Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Shri Subbaraya Pillai.

She was just 16 when she was invited to showcase Indian folk dance at the International Dance Festival of the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre De La Ville, in Paris. This was indeed just beginning of her illustrious career. A series then started to follow up, hence started Valli's journey as one of the globally acknowledged dancers of India. She started exploring since then, on a consistent basis and has received accolades and salutes for her dance performances in leading theatres internationally.

For her contribution in popularizing the classical dance form, she has been awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan in 1991 and 2004 respectively. She has also been honored by the French government with Grande Medaille de la Ville de Paris award.